Abacus International has announced a new collaboration with PayPal, the online payment provider.

The travel technology company will integrate PayPal as a payment option within its online booking engines, Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebConnect, potentially enabling more than 20,000 travel agencies in Asia Pacific to have an online transaction capability.

The deal was sealed at the Abacus International Conference, which is taking place this week in Seoul.

“Consumers today are making more travel bookings online and travel agencies want to gain a competitive advantage in addressing this trend. By integrating PayPal into Abacus WebStart and Abacus WebConnect, travel agencies can now look forward to an effective platform to start an online business with the added benefit of being transaction-ready,” said Robert Bailey, President & CEO of Abacus International.

“In addition, a strong global brand like PayPal is a real boon to travel agencies as it instills a certain level of confidence and trust to global travellers who may be initially wary of purchasing travel packages or flight tickets from unknown travel agency websites,” he added.

The online travel market in the Asia Pacific is projected to see double-digit growth through 2012, remaining the fastest-growing travel region globally through 2013, when it is expected to reach US$357 billion.